Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Beautiful amber color with a slightly faded paper yellowed head. Looks like a very, very sexy Octoberfest. Thick crust of retention never lets any malt peek through. Leaves a large brushstroke of lace like the Tuckerman's snow arch. I'm very mindful of the 5s I dole out but I honestly don't think this beer could look better. I guess the bottle art could be better but it comes in a .5 liter bottle which I think is a really cool homage to Germany from a brewery that only does lagers.

A quick sniff of the bottle boasts unmistakable sharp, grassy centennial. When poured the centennial is still there but it's accompanied by some orange colored hop aromas: kumquat, tangerine and the like.

Citrus and some soft pine hops with sweet, bread crusty malt. Great use of Munich to balance out the hops. Tongue coating, prickly hop resin with each swallow. Odd to have that much hops with a smooth lager mouthfeel. Not bad, just something I'm not used to.

My lovefest for Jack's Abbey continues. Unashamedly. This is good for an IPA but if I review it as a red lager, and I am, I've never had anything like it.

A: Good-looking beer. Pours a medium-amber color with a tall, thick, pillowy, off-white head leaving behind great lace and retention.

S: Pour this beer to develop a good head because big hop aromas come through all those bubbles. Once the head settles down, more malt shows itself. Very balanced and inviting.

T: Great flavors from the sweet, roasted malt with a kick in the finish from the hops. Well-balanced. Such an easy drinking beer. Some woody, nutty, earthy flavors paired with the delicious malt.

M: Extremely smooth, crazy drinkability, proper carbonation. Feels great from start to finish. Sizzles in the mouth and on the way down. Everything is right.

O: Jack's Abby continues to take tasteless styles and give them a rebirth, putting the new American craft spin on them. Maybe some of the weaknesses of the style are hidden in the generous hop additions but regardless, it's another well-crafted beer! I rated according to style and it's really that good. (972 characters)

This beer pours a nice reddish orange Color with a nice white head that slowly recedes lacing the glass beautifully. The smell is piney hops and a nice bready malt backbone. Taste follows the smell. Mouthfeel is light to medium with good carbonation. Overall a great beer (271 characters)

Very nice variation of a bock with an awesome taste of hops.Poured orange into a snifter, its head a nice 2 inches and lacing lasting until the end. Never one to like too many hops this IBU of 50 is just right with its amber color and maltiness, this is an exceptional lager, from the lager heads at Jack's Abby who know how to treat Munch malt to make this really, really good tasting beer - Thanks guys! (405 characters)

Purchased a bottle from the brewery a few days ago. First to review it, had a sample at the brewery and knew I needed to buy some. According to bottle its a "Hopback Lager" with munich malt, and styrian, centennial, Columbus and palisade hops. Sign me up.

S: Big fresh grapefruit hops, definitely can smell the Centennial+Columbus. Incredibly pungent considering the long time needed to ferment a lager.

T: Initial taste is a big wave of bitter grapefruit and piney hops. Has a nice malty backbone with notes of brown bread, molasses, maybe even rye. Has that "red" malt flavor to it, a bit tea like. Finishes with a dry spicy, herbal, resins, floral dank, and refreshing hop bite. As i continue to drink it gets greener and spicier. Great balance of malt sweetness and bitterness, very clean tasting (no yeast or off notes).

M: Lots of carbonation, creamy, a bit oily, but has that lager crisp/lightess.

O: I really like this beer. Great hop aroma and flavor, rich malt backbone that holds its own, yet not palate dominating. Would make an excellent session beer. One of Jack's best offerings. This was pretty tough to classify, Rate beer says imperial pilsner, with Munich malts though I definitely consider this an amber or red. Maybe an India Red Lager? Sounds crazy but its awesome, highly recommended. (1,430 characters)

T: Balanced flavor leaning toward hoppy. Malts are solid providing a base for the hop to flower from. Citrus and piney hops with a bit of a spicy character too. Lager qualities still shine. Bready toasty quality comes out more as it warms.

M: Light to medium body with fairly low carbonation. Bit of a nectar like stickiness from the hop but remains crisp upon finish.

Overall I'm very impressed with this one and will certainly be headed back for more. I've always liked malt forward yet hoppy beers and this combines those with a lager base that is superb. (810 characters)

L – Medium amber color with a 2-finger frothy cream-colored head. Really nice retention and lacing. Clear with a good amount of bubbles.

S – Lots of hops with pine and grapefruit notes and a lot more caramel malt than I was expecting from a lager.

T – Starts off sweet with caramel malt and rapidly becomes very bitter with a large amount of pine and some grapefruit flavors. As the bitterness mellows, the woody pine becomes even more apparent.

F – Medium-bodied with good carbonation, a sticky and chewy mouthfeel, and a bitter, long-lasting finish. Bitter pine hops linger for a long time. The higher-than-usual ABV for a lager at 7.2% is nowhere to be found.

O – This is a really tasty beer, but I almost definitely would not be able to call this a lager in a blind test. This has much more body and much more bitterness than I was expecting – very IPA-like. Now, I am not complaining about this in any way at all; I was just surprised to find all this in a lager. Jack’s Abby is not only putting out great lagers, they’re putting out great beers. (1,141 characters)

Straight pour from a 12oz pry-off bottle to a teku glass; bottling date of October 17, 2013 printed in black ink on the far right side of the label, perpendicular to the text (“MFG 10.17.2013”), making this beer just under two weeks old at the time of consumption.

Appearance (4.25): Just about two fingers of custard-colored head comes off of the pour, capping a rich, deep orange-amber colored body that’s perfectly clear—the pour is gorgeous, actually. As the head dies down (moderately slowly), it leaves a collar or two of lace, loose, wide legs here and there, and then huge, fat splotches covering a decent amount of the far side of the glass. Pretty solid lacing, actually.

Taste (4.25): Mostly following the nose, the flavor shows a great combination of moderately rich but restrained malt character (toasted, dark multigrain bread, a tiny bit of brown sugar icing and some very light fruit cake, some toffee) playing off some piney, resinous hops and a quietly spicy hop character—Old World, kinda sorta, plus that old school American, piney stuff. And yet, as “rich” as I say the malt body is, it just comes off as being so clean. There’s a toasted nuttiness that blends in with the spicy, piney hops on the finish, too, which in allowing some deeper subtlety in the malt character shine betrays the well-crafted heart of this lager. As it warms, the malt and hops blend together a bit better, with a mild toffee character that mixes surprisingly well with the spiciness of the hops—followed by a modestly resinous, piney-bitter finish. Man, this is really well-done.

Mouthfeel (4.0): Subtle, tingly carbonation washes all over, chasing an easy-going, lighter-than-medium-weight body with a nice, clean finish that treads just on the dry side. Clean. Crisp. Easy to drink. Well done, for sure.

Overall (4.25): This one doesn’t bowl you over in any one regard, but rather it shows a lot of subtlety that comes out here and there when you probe a little deeper. It’s easy to drink and really pleasing if you’re looking to just kick back and drink something immediately tasty and not too crazy, but it’s also great if you’re willing to sit down and look into its depth and complexity. This is really damn good. I’ve always expected good things from Jack’s Abby, but this is very pleasantly well-crafted—awesome beer. Great job, you guys. (2,734 characters)

O: Excellent amber lager. I guess Hoponius spoiled me, as I was hoping for this to be a lager version of Nugget Nectar and was therefore a bit disappointed that the hops were merely solid rather than insane.

Pours a slight cloudy, copper/amber color with some bright orange tinges. Really vibrant for a beer that is relatively darker. The cloudiness disappears as the beer warms so it may have been chill haze from the beer being poured a touch colder than it should have. A nice, fluffy off-white head develops and reaches about 2 fingers before settling in as a nice, thick cap of foam. Excellent retention and lacing to match. Each sip is clearly marked on the glass with sticky foam. Exceptional looking beer, especially when the haze cleared up.

At first glance there is a great hop aroma in the nose. Nice grapefruit and grass-like hops lead the way. When you really get into it the hop aroma is still excellent but a nice malt sweetness really brings it up a notch and balances the beer out. The combination works very well together.

The taste is right in line with the nose. The hops come on fairly strong at first but it is again balanced out quite nicely. Great grassy and citrusy hops come across first before a sweet and bready malt character equals them. There is also a nice piney note that comes towards the finish and provides a pleasant bitterness.

The beer is definitely on the fuller side body-wise. Not stout or porter territory but fairly rich in it's own right. That being said the flavors are lighter on the palette and it drinks extremely smooth. Extremely impressive that something like this can be extremely smooth with ample carbonation and a crispness to it.

This beer is excellent. This is the second or third beer I've had from Jack's Abby that seems tough to categorize style-wise. They seem to bring something unique to the table with their take on each style the take a stab at. This is no exception. The ability to bring a great hop character and balance it this well seems to be something they have a touch for. Very well done once again. (1,946 characters)

A: Pours an amber color with 2 fingers of head that fades down to a nice cap

S: Good mix of malt and hops. Hops are earthy/spicy and piney with a hint of fruitiness. Malts are lightly bready and grainy

T: Starts off with a quick hit of the malts, and then the hops provide a nice spicy kick. Breadiness comes in mid-palate, along with some earthy notes. Finishes with a bit of graininess and a touch of sweetness

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation

O: A very nicely done brew with some nice minute complexities. Easy to drink, plus it now comes in 6-packs! Definitely recommended (590 characters)

Pours a nice bronze color with a finger thick foamy head that leaves chunks of lacing on the glass. Smell is melon and spring flowers. Taste is light citrus with a mild bitterness on the finish. Feel is medium with a light, fizzy carbonation. Very smooth. A little hoppier than a lot of lagers I've had, but still with a nice maltiness.

Pours a perfect amber orange with a brilliant clarity and a stream of bubbles rising ot the top. A thick pillowy head of foam adorns the prettiest color beer I have seen in a long time. Leaves sheets of wet lace. Nose is bright with fruity and floral hops. A bit of subtle citrus and stone fruit quality. There si a rich deep malt in this that sports both grainy bread and a light brown sugar. Taste is handsome. Restrained and subtle hops lend a citrus twang to a very earthy grain that has a bit of baked sweetness on it. Tiny bit of resin to coat the throat and leave a rich aftertaste. Brown sugar, hop floral and a light hop spice that goes so well with the earthy and lightly sweet grain. The carbonation is a bit tingly and the hops give a seductive little sideways glance to this beer and they finish with the smallest bitter.

Just fabulous. Hearty, rich, textured and full of flavor. The stone fruit in this is the surprise and the sensation. it softens the hop character to the point of luxury. It enhances the grain sweetness but doesn't overshadow it. It takes to the bit of hop spice and makes this beer dapper and a little bit sweet. (1,149 characters)

Initial whiff is of malt, suggesting the "Hopbock" part of the name. Mostly caramel/toffee smell, but hops eventually come through with a floral push, then dissipate. The aroma is somewhat reminiscent of a caramel apple that's not particularly fresh and juicy.

The flavor is radically different. Although there is a sweet toffee background, that's not the flavor that comes through first or strongest. The initial taste is salt, with slight effervescence that turns into spicy pucker. By the time the first swish reaches mid-tongue, it becomes rather bitter, with strong pine-eucalyptus notes and grapefruit peel finish (without the usual accompanying citrus aroma). Keeping the beer in the front yields an odd combination of hints of grass, apple and light touch of nectarine. The overall impression is fairly pleasant, but lacks any bock characteristics promised by the aroma. Malt only comes through in the aftertaste, but both the puckering and the piney bitterness linger.

When cold, Lashes feels medium heavy, but soon becomes thin as it warms up. Bottle notes promise "full-bodied and malty". No. It leaves an odd sensation of coating the palate but not the tongue. There is more visible carbonation than seems to get to the tongue. As beer warms up, alcohol presence becomes much more noticeable despite IPA-level 6.8%.

A pleasant beer that will have an impact on a summer day no matter what the temperature outside. But the overall impression is a bit inconsistent. Lacks the polish of some of the other Jack's Abby brews. Not sessionable either by flavor or alcohol content, but there should be no problem putting away more than one. Seems unlikely to cellar at all. Too thin for malt evolution and not enough complexity to remain behind once hops fade. Drink fresh.

PS: Can still taste the toffee, grapefruit and salt half-hour after drinking. The aftertaste actually becomes more pleasant with time. Definitely love this aspect of this particular beer. (2,184 characters)